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The Steelers should be rooting for the Ravens to beat the Bengals this Sunday...

Now according to this article from Ron Cook in today's Post Gazette the Steelers fans should be upset and worried that the Ravens beat the Broncos yesterday and are still alive and well for the division. The Ravens beating the Broncos yesterday and handling them pretty easily didnot really come as a huge huge shock to me because the Ravens were due to win a game, and the Broncos who I dont believe are very good were due to lose a game. The fact of the matter is the Ravens needed to win that game yesterday a lot more then the Denver Broncos did. The Ravens could not afford to fall to 3-4 and 2 games behind both the Bengals and the Steelers going into their game at Cincy this Sunday. I had wrote about this last week that by the Ravens winning the next 2 weeks against Denver which they did do, and at Cincy this Sunday combined with a Steelers win in Denver next Monday night that it would actually help the Steelers out by not only getting them back into first place in the AFC North, but by also overtaking the Broncos in the AFC as the current number 2 seed.

So while Cook and everybody else are talking about how bad it is that the Ravens won it's actually a good thing yesterday if you look at the big picture in terms of down the road and playoff seedings assuming the Steelers still win the AFC North which of course I believe like Im sure many others on this board do that they will. You should also be rooting for the Ravens to beat the Bengals this week as well and put the Bengals at 5-3 and give them their first division loss since the Bengals are currently 3-0 in the division. If that happens and the Steelers win at Denver next Monday the Steelers will be back in first place going into their big showdown with the Bengals and have a chance to go up 2 games on the Bengals with a win against them at Heinz Field on November 15th which would be huge. Assuming the Ravens win the next 2 weeks at Cincy and at Cleveland which I believe they will do both that will put them at 6-3. And if the Steelers win the next 2 weeks at Denver and at home against the Bengals it will put them at 7-2. This is where it will get tough for the Ravens as their next 3 games are against the Colts who always beat the Ravens even though the game is in Baltimore,home against the Steelers the next week, and then at Green Bay the following Monday night which is never an easy place to win.

The Steelers schedule in those same weeks are at Kansas City,obviously the next week at Baltimore, followed by the Raiders at home. So if you look at that stretch there comparing the two schedules assuming the Steelers are still up a game in the division on the Ravens the schedule clearly says advantage Steelers. Even if the Ravens would manage to beat the Colts in Baltimore the Steelers who are definitely going to beat the Chiefs would still have a chance to go 2 games up on the Ravens with a win in Baltimore the following Sunday,and possibly 3 games if the Colts should beat the Ravens. So Im not worried at all about the Ravens winning yesterday because if you look down the road at both of these teams schedules right when they are supposed to play each other the Steelers have a clear clear advantage with an easier schedule and should be able to keep a 1 or 2 game lead on the Ravens going into December especially if they beat them in Baltimore at the end of the month.

The Ravens & Bengals beating the hell out of each other is the best thing that can happen for us. They play a tight, physical, close, ball game and blow everything they have and then we get Cincy coming to town all beat up and losing to the Ratbirds and then we play a physical game and send them out of 1st place.

The Ravens & Bengals beating the hell out of each other is the best thing that can happen for us. They play a tight, physical, close, ball game and blow everything they have and then we get Cincy coming to town all beat up and losing to the Ratbirds and then we play a physical game and send them out of 1st place.

Im with you on that one as well TG I hope both of these teams beat the living **** out of one another. But keep in mind also the Steelers after playing in Denver Monday night whether they win or lose have a long long flight home from Denver where they probably wont get back into Pittsburgh probably until 5 or 6 Tuesday morning. At that point they will have to get right back into the swing of things and start preparing for what could be the most important game of the year against the Bengals 5 days later on Sunday afternoon at 1 o clock. So the Steelers will really have no time to enjoy the win against Denver or dwell on a loss against Denver no matter what happens.

The way the division looks now the Steelers really need to win that game against the Bengals here in 13 days. The Steelers cannot afford to drop that game to the Bengals and have them sweep them and hand them another loss in the division especially seeing that the Steelers still have to play 2 games against the Ravens. Plus, the Bengals have a very favorable schedule 3 weeks in a row after they play the Steelers having to play the Raiders,Browns,and Lions 3 weeks straight 3 games they will probably all win.

So while I never root for the Steelers to lose any games at all and never think they will, if I had to make a predicition on what game they will lose here I will say they will either lose in Denver or in Baltimore. But as I pointed out in my first post here if the Steelers win these next 2 games against the Broncos and Bengals even if they do lose in Baltimore at the end of the month they should still be in very very good shape to control the AFC North for the remainder of the season and win the division as well. The best case scenario is to root for the Ratbirds this week to beat the Bengals and put the Bengals at 5-3 with the Ravens. That way if the Steelers beat the Broncos and go to 6-2 they will have a chance to go 2 full games up on the Bengals by beating them here at Heinz Field on November 15th. Then, after that you can start focusing on taking out the Ravens who as I mentioned after playing games at the Bengals and Browns have 3 very very tough games in a row against the Colts,Steelers,and at Green Bay. The Steelers should at the very worst have a 1 game lead on the Ravens going into their game with them on November 29th and maybe even a 2 game lead on them if the Colts beat the Ravens a week before we play them and the Steelers beat the Chiefs in Kansas City which they definitely should and better be able to do...

Broncos HC Josh McDaniels informed the media during his Monday media gathering that RT Ryan Harris will not play against the Steelers next Monday night. McDaniels did not have an official prognosis on Harris, only to say "he will not play Monday".

Harris reportedly injured two toes on this right foot during the Broncos 30-7 loss to Baltimore. Harris was able to walk off the field but was later carted back to the locker room.

I have a pretty good feeling that if the Steelers win these next 2 games at Denver and home to Cincinnati and move to 7-2 that they will win the AFC North. The schedule for the Steelers the rest of the way just sets up so much better then either the Bengals or Ravens schedule does. The Steelers after the Broncos and Bengals games have 3 of their next 4 against the Chiefs,Raiders,and Browns with the game in Baltimore in between those 3 games. Then, they finish up with back to back games at home with the Packers and Ravens before finishing the season out at Miami. If the Bengals lose the next 2 games against the Ravens and Steelers and fall to 5-4 and the Steelers win the next 2 games at Denver and here against the Bengals and move to 7-2 with that stretch of games coming up against the Chiefs,Raiders,and Browns you can pretty much say goodnight to the Bengals because they will not be able to catch the Steelers. It's even more of a reason to root for the Ravens this week seeing that the Ravens have a brutal stretch of games at the end of the month while the Steelers have an easy stretch of games at the exact sametime...Take care of the Bengals first and then they can worry about getting rid of the Ravens at the end of the month...

I am all for the Ravens beating the Bengals, as long as its close and physical, but I think the Ravens may be the team we should be most afraid of, because Cincy lost Odom, we wont have to worry about the pass rush the same way. In fact, when I watched that game, it seemed we keep a TE in there to help block him most of the time. So hopefully, without an extra blocker, we can keep Wallace in the game more, forcing their D to spread out more. I dont think Cincy can beat us in Heinz field.

The Ravens & Bengals beating the hell out of each other is the best thing that can happen for us. They play a tight, physical, close, ball game and blow everything they have and then we get Cincy coming to town all beat up and losing to the Ratbirds and then we play a physical game and send them out of 1st place.

Hell yea! That's all I care about!! Ravens will be after revenge and it won't come with out a price!